Misty's Dream
by Cerasi
Summary: Misty has some terrifying dream's, but do they mean more than they appear to...
1. The Dreams Begin

i do not own pokemon. if i did do you think i would bother wirting into the fanfiction when i could get my stuff on tv?   
anyway, i do not own any of these characters (Sniff) please read and review my fic, tell me if you thinnk i could do any better, and where i could add in some more bits or even take out others.  
please don't flame me if you do not like my work.  
Cerasi.  
  
in this fic the characters are older than they are in the anime; there ages are the following:  
  
Ash: 15  
Misty: 17  
Brock: 20  
Gary: 15  
Duplica: 18  
  
  
Misty's Dream  
  
  
Misty sat on a log beside the campfire, her sea blue eyes shining brightly, and her hair blowing silently in the slight breeze of the night air. The shadows cast by her hair and slim body flickered in the light, as if in a graceful dance. She took a sip from her cup of soup that Brock had made them all for supper. The hot flavour of the soup rushed into her mouth, instantly making her feel a little bit warmer. She was suddenly very grateful that they had a friend like Brock that could cook as well as he did. If they hadn't met up with him then Misty would probably have starved, or so she kept telling herself, as she couldn't imagine Ash actually being able to cook anything edible. She shivered slightly as the coldness of the night suddenly hit her. She wished she had brought trousers or something a little bit warmer, but no. She had to wear her small cream coloured top and her navy shorts; they looked similar to the top and shorts she used tom wear, but she had grown out of them a few years back. It wasn't very cold if the sun was shining, but the sun did not shine in the night. She took another sip from her cup and looked up over the campfire to where Ash was sitting.  
He wore black denim trousers and a dark green top that almost looked black from a distance, and as always he had his Pokémon league hat. But, Misty could not see his blue body warmer anywhere. Her eyes searched the campsite until the lay upon Pikachu. He was wrapped up in Ash's body warmer as he sat slurping at an open bottle of ketchup.  
"Chu, chu." The small electric mouse type Pokémon chanted in satisfaction, as it's stomach was filled with the red sauce. Misty often wondered how Pikachu could eat the sauce straight from the bottle, but then she would just tell herself that the Pokémon probably found what humans eat strange too. 'It's a strange world.' She thought.  
She smiled slightly and her eyes turned to Brock. He wore a brown top and blue jeans; on top of that he had his green body warmer. He sat at what seemed to be the top of the campfire. Misty considered him the group leader, as he always knew what to do. She respected him, and even though Ash very seldom showed respect for others, she knew that he respected Brock.  
Brock put down his empty cup and yawned. "We had better get some rest." He said as he headed to where his backpack lay on the ground. He took out his sleeping bag and started to unroll it. "We have a long journey ahead of us tomorrow if we are to get back to Pallet town. If we're lucky we'll get to Viridian city just about lunch time, so we can stop to eat there. Then we can head off and hopefully get back to Pallet before it gets too dark." Brock yawned again, as he took off his green body warmer and climbed into his sleeping bag. "Once you two are finished, just sit your dishes beside mine. I'll clear them away in the morning." Once he had finished his sentence he stirred a little in his sleeping bag before he was silent and still. Misty's eyes searched to look for Ash, and to her surprise he was looking straight at her. She blushed slightly and instantly looked away. She heard Pikachu's slight laughter, so she guessed Ash had turned abruptly away as well.  
"Well Pikachu," Ash said as he stood up and stretched, "time we got some rest too." He picked up Pikachu and walked over to where his sleeping bag was already laying sprawled on the soft grass. Misty began to walk to her sleeping bag too, when she heard a faint cry.  
"Togi," the small voice came out of nowhere it seemed, but she looked back to where she had been sitting and just beside the log lay the little egg Pokémon, Togepi. "Togi, togi, pri!" it continued to cry, until Misty picked it up.  
"Sorry, Togepi." She said as she picked her up. Togepi instantly stopped crying when it saw Misty's face.  
"Togi, togi pri!" it said in excitement. Misty sighed as she walked over to her sleeping bag.  
"No, Togepi. We're not going anywhere else tonight." She pulled herself into her sleeping bag, and sat the little egg Pokémon beside her.  
"Togi." It said in disappointment. Misty smiled, and then yawned.   
"Goodnight," she said quietly to Togepi, as she shut her eyes.  
"Goodnight, Misty." Ash's voice said quietly in the night.  
"Goodnight, Ash." She said in return and then everyone fell into a deep sleep. Ash dreamt about catching more Pokémon, while Brock dreamt about all the officer Jenny's and nurse Joy's fighting over him, but Misty had a different dream, one she felt she could not escape, no matter how much she tossed and turned, she could not shake the threatening thoughts that ran through her head.  
  
  
  
Misty was in the dark and all around her was the deafening screams of people she knew, suffering terrible pain, and some even dying. She tried to run and to find them, but no matter where she turned, all she could see was darkness. She cried out for them, but it was no use, no one would answer her calls. But, then everything went silent. It was a deafening silence. And Misty cried. She cried tears of sorrow and of fright. But she soon realised they were tears of pain too. She reached down and felt her ribs; her hands touched wet, sticky blood. And instantly the pain racked through her body. She fell. Hard on the ground. When her knees touched it felt like she had fallen onto knives and daggers. Again, pain struck her like a blot of lightening, and, even though it was already pitch black, as she closed her eyes it seemed to get darker. And then she heard someone call her name. She tried to open her eyes, but she had lost control over her body. All she knew is that she was in pain, much more pain than she thought possible. Then everything went still and the silence was shattered, as her own voice filled it with a scream of sheer pain and terror.  
  
  
  
"Brock," Ash called across the campsite to his friend, "she's not waking up." Ash Ketchum sat beside his other friend, who was tossing and turning so violently he could have sworn it was some invisible person pulling at her as if she were a rag doll. He tried desperately to wake her. He had heard her mumbling as he was trying to sleep, and hadn't realised how bad she actually was. "Misty, come on. I know some how you can hear me! Misty! Misty, please wake up!" Ash shook her shoulders violently; not thinking it would do any use as she was already shaking all over. Pikachu was sitting a small distance away from them. "Pikachu, thundershock!" Ash called to it.  
"Pi?" Pikachu questioned as it looked around for the enemy.  
"No, thundershock Misty." Ash rethought this. "Not at full power, we don't want to injure her more."  
"Pi," Pikachu nodded. Then it built up some power in its cheeks. "Pika CHU!" it screamed as it let out an electric shock. Misty's body stopped shaking for a couple of seconds, and Ash regretted what he'd done. But, once more her body began to shake violently.  
"Pikachu, again." Ash called, fear rising in his voice. This had to wake her up it just had to.  
"Pikachu!" he screamed as yet another electrifying current was sent through the air.  
Suddenly, Misty sat bolt upright, eyes wide open, and her mouthing taking in ragged breaths. She hurriedly looked around her, and the realised someone was holding her shoulders. She turned and found Ash staring at her.  
"Misty, are you all right?" he asked hurriedly. He didn't get much of an answer before she burst into tears and lunged towards him, holding him tight. He put his arms around her protectively as she cried in his arms. "It's ok, Misty," he comforted as he stroked her hair, "it's ok." He whispered over and over to her. Saying anything that he thought would calm her down. After a couple of minutes she stopped crying and just held onto Ash for protection. She let go abruptly and dashed the tears away from her eyes -it did little use. Brock brought over an extra blanket and draped it around her shoulders. She gratefully took it and wrapped it around her to keep herself warm.  
Ash sat in front of her, while Brock made her some cocoa. He tried to smile, but he didn't think there was anything worth smiling about. He wanted to know what had caused Misty to seem so hard to wake. He had to know. Was she sick; was she in pain, why would she be sick? He needed to know the answers. Misty shivered slightly and Ash leant over to bring her closer to the fire. As soon as she saw his hand she pulled away, causing her to stumble and fall over backwards. Ash instantly moved forward and tried to help her up. She refused her help.  
"Leave me alone." She said quietly.  
"Misty, come on. You need to get closer to the fire. You'll freeze if you don't." Ash tried to get her up, but she just rolled further into a small ball.  
"Get away from me!" she screamed at him. Ash was taken aback. It felt like her words had slapped him in the face. Just moments ago she had came to him for comfort against her invisible foe, and now she was pushing him away like he was the evil one. Ash heard Pikachu stirring behind him.  
"Pika pi Pikachu! Pika! Pikachu! Pi pika pi! Pikachu!" the small Pokémon said as it walked closer to them.  
"What?" Ash asked he still didn't understand Pikachu fully. He picked up the small electric Pokémon. "Tell me again, slower this time." Pikachu was about to repeat himself but Brock interrupted.  
"He says Misty's scared about what was in her dream." He sat the cup of cocoa down in front of Misty, for her to take it if she wanted. Then he continued, "She's pushing us away as she's scared of what we'll think of what she saw." Pikachu nodded. Brock gave him a small biscuit and Pikachu took it and started to nibble on the side of it. Brock smiled a small smile at Pikachu as he tried to get the crumbs out of his fur. "Let her be until the morning, we could all still get a couple of hours rest." When he finished he gave Pikachu a pat on the head and went back to his sleeping bag.  
Ash was about to walk over to his own when he heard the familiar high-pitched voice of Togepi.  
"Togi, togi pri!" it called out to Misty with its small arms raised in order to be picked up. When Misty didn't move or make any attempt to comfort it Ash walked over and picked her up.  
"It's ok Togepi. Misty's just a bit down just now." He held the small egg close, to keep it from catching it's death. He pulled his sleeping bag closer to Misty's in order to look after her and make sure she stayed at the campsite during the remainder of the night. Also, Togepi did not like being away from Misty, as it thought of her as a mother. He sat Togepi in the middle of himself and Misty, and then he draped the cover over Misty's full body and put his own body warmer over Togepi. Pikachu came running over on all fours to where Ash now lay and snuggled up close to his master's sleeping bag. He pulled some of it over his small body.  
"Thank you, Ash." Misty said as she shuffled a bit. Ash let a small smile creep over his face.  
"Goodnight Misty," he said again then he shut his eyes and tried to sleep.  
  
  
  
Ash was awoken to the chirping of a Pidgey in a nearby tree. He immediately checked to see if Misty was still there, but when he turned round he could not see her in her sleeping bag. He sat up and looked around, his vision still clouded with thoughts of sleep. He rubbed his eyes and shook the thoughts away. He calmed down a bit when he saw Misty sitting at the campfire, trying to light it with a match. He walked over to her, and to his relief she had a small smile on her face. She still looked mad at not being able to light the fire, so Ash handed her a Pokéball. Misty looked at him with a questioning look on her face.  
"Just throw the ball." He told her. She threw the Pokéball a couple of yards in front of them. A bright light lit up the morning sky, and a few seconds later a small Vulpix stood before them. Misty looked delighted.  
"When did you get that?" she asked excitedly. Ash was happy to hear joy in her voice again.  
"Last night. When everyone was asleep. It ran through the campsite so I decided to follow it. It was injured so I gave it some super potion and it followed me back here. So I threw a Pokéball at it and it went in without a fight. I think it's grateful that I fixed its wounds." Misty picked up the small fox Pokémon, and to her surprise it did not attack her. Usually when a wild Vulpix is touched or picked up, it would attack whoever had came close. But this one seemed to trust people.  
"It must have been abandoned. It's too trusting of others. No wonder it was injured when you found it." Misty stroked the young Vulpix's head. Then she ordered it, "Vulpix, flamethrower." Expecting it not to do anything, she was set back when it agreed and lit the fire with the hot flames it shot from its mouth. The wood was set alight in seconds, and Vulpix went silent. Misty turned and looked at Ash, who looked just as shocked as she was.  
"I didn't think it knew any attacks," he said. "It looks too young to know anything."  
"Don't let what's on the outside fool you Ash." Brock said as he came over to them. "Although this Vulpix looks young, it might know lots of attacks. Age doesn't matter, it's what's on the inside that counts." He sat down beside them. " So, Misty. Feeling better today?" he handed Misty a cup of cold juice.  
"Yeh, a bit." She said as she took a small sip from the cup. "But, enough about me," she said trying to change the subject, "we had better get on our way to Pallet town before it gets too late to head off. Oh, and Ash caught a Vulpix, isn't it just the sweetest thing in the whole world." A small noise of protest came from beside her. "Except for you Togepi." she said as she picked her up.  
"Yeh, Misty's right. We had better get going." Ash agreed and got up to roll his sleeping bag up. He rolled up Misty's while he was over beside it, and then walked over to where the bags were and lay them down beside them. Ash picked up his body warmer and pulled it over his shoulders, then he picked up his bag and put it on his back. He called Pikachu and the little mouse Pokémon jumped onto his arm and then onto his shoulder. "Come on guys," Ash called out as he began to run off.  
"Hey, Ash," Misty called as she pulled on her bag and picked up Togepi, "wait up Ash." She ran after him, Brock following closely behind.  
  
  
  
Misty was trapped again, trapped in the darkness. She called out for help but no one answered. She started to run; she couldn't stay in the one place for too long, she had to keep moving. She ran until she bashed into something, she let out a scream only to find she had ran into a black wall. Then she turned and was about to run the other way when she saw them. Huge red eyes floating towards her, she turned back to where the wall had been and the eyes were there too. She screamed as loud as she could but was cut off abruptly as pain was sent through her middle section, a pain that seemed to spread through her whole body. She felt like she was paralysed she tried to stand, but her body would not pay any attention to her minds commands. She closed her eyes and feared the worst. Then an electrifying bolt went through her body and everything started to get lighter. She hoped for the best.  
  
  
  
Misty woke to see Ash, Brock, Pikachu, Ash's mum, Professor Oak and a doctor surrounding her. "Wh, where am I?"  
"Don't you remember Misty?" she heard someone's voice, a male voice, but her head still spun and she couldn't make out who it was. She looked around and soon the familiar objects of Mrs. Ketchum's house come into view. She saw one bed far away at the wall and another fairly close; she knew she was lying down on one, which meant she had to be in the guest's room. In between the bed at the wall and the other one was a small table with a small lamp on it. There was nothing between where she was and the bed in the middle of the room. She saw her bag on the floor at the door, and beside hers Ash's and Brock's sat. She sat up, but the doctor urged her to stay down.  
"N, no! You don't understand." She told them. "Something bad is going to happen. I know it is. Something terrible." Misty began to cry, and Ash went over and supported her. The doctor took Mrs. Ketchum and Professor Oak over to talk to them.  
"Give her one of these every twelve hours, that will help her sleep." The doctor began to walk to the door.  
"Thank you so much for coming out at this time of night, doctor." Mrs. Ketchum said.  
"It's alright Mrs. Ketchum. I am used to making late calls." He took one last look at the three friends in the room. "If anything goes wrong again, just call me straight up. I can be here in three minutes flat if you want me to." he picked up his jacket and bag and said goodnight to all of them, and then he left. Brock came to see what the doctor had given them.  
"Brock," Professor Oak faced him, "has anything like this happened before when you have been on your journeys?" he looked at the young man as he thought.  
"Well, yes it has. Just last night as well." Brock looked puzzled. "Do you think the dreams actually mean something?" Brock asked anxiously. He had seen the state that Misty had been in both nights, what could possibly have caused them?  
"Well, I'm not sure. If she doesn't tell anyone we may never be sure." He stared back into the room where Ash and Misty were, Ash holding Misty tightly and protectively in his arms and Misty allowing herself to be moulded to his touch. "Maybe she'll tell Ash." He said almost silently, but Brock picked it up. He went back inside the room and climbed into the bed on the far side of the room. He quickly pulled up the covers and Ash's mum came in.  
"Ash, dear. It's time for bed." She said as she walked over to the bed where Misty and Ash sat. "How are you feeling love?" she asked Misty.  
"Fine, Mrs. Ketchum." She said as she wiped tears from her face. "I just want to get some rest." She lay down and pulled the covers up to her chin. Mrs. Ketchum smiled and then told Ash to get to bed. She dimmed the lamp a little so that there was only a hint of light, and then left the room.  
A few minutes later Misty was crying again. Brock heard her muffled sobs, he knew she must be hiding under the covers so no one could here her properly, but he heard her. He resisted the need to comfort her; he would leave that to Ash. Now all Ash had to do was get up himself.  
Ash heard her sobs as well, but he did not know if Misty would appreciate the comfort right now. He thought for a few more seconds and then he couldn't take it anymore, Misty needed help. He threw the covers away and crept quietly over to her bed. He shook the covers slightly, "Misty?" he asked. "Misty, are you ok?" he was about to lift the covers off of her head, when she pulled herself out. Tears were streaming down her red face. She looked at Ash, her shoulders still rising from her sobs.  
"I just…" she began, but she couldn't get the words out for the sadness and terror that invaded her throat. "I…I…" she tried again, but it was no use. She was still shaking, so she pulled the covers closer, Ash helped her and wrapped them around her shoulders.  
"It's ok Misty. You know you can tell me anything." He said as he wiped the tears from her eyes. She sniffed and smiled slightly.  
"Thanks, Ash." She said as she gave him a hug. He always seemed to cheer her up, even when she was most down. "Ash, em, could you, em…"  
"What is it Misty?" Ash asked.  
"Could you keep a secret?" she said.  
"Yeh, sure. Anything." He said as he lifted her face so he could see her in the dim light. "What do you want to tell me?"  
"It's about my dre…nightmares." She said, the same sadness and terror from the previous minutes crept back into her voice. Ash listened intently as Misty told him about both of her dreams; fear creeping its way to every cell in his brain as she told him of the troubling thoughts that haunted her dreams every night. His fists clenched as he wondered what could be causing these strange dreams.  
Misty finished telling of her terrifying thoughts a couple of minutes later. Tears started to roll down her cheeks the more she thought about it. She shook them away. "Ash, could we please go somewhere lighter?" she asked, when she suddenly realised how dark it actually was. "I don't want to wake up Brock with the light."  
"Yeh, come on." Ash said as he helped her stand, "we can go to the kitchen." Ash led the way through the mostly darkened house until they got to the kitchen. Ash turned on the light and sat Misty down at the table, then he went to the fridge and got out some milk and a couple of glasses. They sat there for the rest of the night just talking things over, Ash trying to tell Misty all the time that the dreams meant nothing, but he hardly believed that they did so himself.  
  
  
  
The next morning passed fairly quickly, apart from the fact that Gary came round, and him and Ash were competing all along. Misty just stayed out of the way; she mostly kept herself hidden away in the spare room. Brock brought her food and drink, so she didn't have to go out into Pallet Town anywhere. She was grateful that almost everyone left her to herself. Gary came in a couple of times to ask how she was feeling, he didn't understand that she would prefer to be left alone.  
"Hey, Misty," Gary. His familiar voice shattered the silence.  
"What do you want Gary?" Misty asked for about the thirtieth time.  
"We're all having a water Pokémon fight, wanna join in?" he asked as he walked over to her. This time instead of him wearing his usual purple shirt, he only had his shorts on, probably in order to keep his precious shirt from getting damaged.  
"No, Gary. I've told you before I want to be left alone." Now how many times had she said that today?  
"Aww. You've got to come out. You are the water Pokémon expert anyway." He said. "And I don't think you'd want your title to be taken away from y…"  
"Gary, I told you not to bother Misty again!" Gary was cut of by Ash storming into the room.  
"I was just seein' if she'd changed her mind." Gary said pouting. "You don't need to shout at me. You're just a loser anyway, what would you know." Gary walked out of the room and slammed the door after him. Ash cringed as the noise echoed through the house.  
"Don't think you're going to get me out there Ash. I want to stay right where I am."  
"I'm not trying to get you out anywhere. I just want you to stay where you are happy." Ash said as he went to walk out of the room. Misty felt so bad, she had trusted Ash with her secret about the dream, and now he was going to let him battle Gary without any support.  
"Ha! I knew she wouldn't come out to even support you. She finally realised you're such a loser." Then he threw a Pokéball at his feet. "Omanyte, water gun now!"  
"An Omanyte!" Ash cried, "When did you get that?"  
"When I always get all my Pokémon," Gary said, "when you're busy losing all your battles." Ash beamed red with anger.  
"Let's get this started." Ash said as he reached for a Pokéball, "Squirtle, go!" a red flash emitted from the Pokéball and seconds later Squirtle stood poised for battle.  
"Squirtle, squirt!" it yelled as it spat a line of water aimed straight at Gary. Omanyte met it with an equal blast of water, but soon the blast from Omanyte took over Squirtle's power. "Squirt!" it yelled as it was pushed backwards by the force.  
"Staryu, tackle attack!" Misty's voice rang out clear and strong from behind Ash. In the few seconds it took for everyone to realise she had come out, Misty's Staryu had flown down and knocked Omanyte on its back. It lay there struggling for a few seconds until it found its balance and flipped over. As soon as it was the right way up, it shot a powerful amount of water at Misty's Staryu.  
"Staryu, harden!" Misty called without even thinking. The Pokémon glowed for a second and then the water blasted into the star shaped Pokémon, which sent it careering backwards. Misty didn't move a muscle. Gary face was already beaming with satisfaction; he knew well that Misty was a gym leader and even though he had beaten gym leaders, he had never beaten her.  
"Omanyte, stop. This match is over." He said triumphantly. But then he looked over to where the Staryu had been hit. "Huh?" he said quietly as he realised it was no longer there. He looked around for it but couldn't see it anywhere. Then he felt the cold blast of water hitting the back of his head. Staryu! Gary fell forward, landing face first in the muddy ground. He lifted his head up. "Omanyte, get that thing!" he roared.  
"Staryu, water gun." Misty said in a normal tone of voice, as if mocking Gary. The Omanyte lunged forward, launching a deadly horn attack; Misty's Staryu avoided the attack and shot water from its top spike of its star shape. It hit the Omanyte with incredible strength and the Omanyte flew off and hit a tree. Gary rushed to its side.  
"Omanyte, return." He said as he got out another Pokéball. "Vaporeon, go! Finish this thing off!" a vaporeon stood in front of Gary in a few seconds. It was standing in an attack position in a matter of milliseconds, and then it was flying towards Staryu.  
"Staryu, look out!" Misty yelled as the Vaporeon hit the Staryu hard and brought it to the ground. "No! Staryu!" Misty ran forward the Vaporeon saw her and decided to attack her to get extra praise from Gary. It leapt forward with its mouth open wide. It was almost at Misty when a pink wall seemed to rise out of nowhere. The Vaporeon, in mid flight, went crashing into it. Gary called the Pokémon back, and rushed to see what was happening. Misty opened her eyes and the pink shield suddenly dissolved into a small pink blob.  
"Ditto!" it said cheerfully.  
"Wow, a Ditto!" Ash said as he ran forward. "I gotta get it!" He ran over with a Pokéball in his hand. Pikachu ran slightly behind him, electricity building up in his cheeks.  
"Ditto, transform." A female voice rang out from behind them. Ash froze as the small blob turned into a Pikachu. And then, without hesitating, let out an electrifying jolt of electricity. Ash turned to see who it was that owned the Ditto, but couldn't see where the voice had come from. Then he heard a small thump of feet landing on the dry grass behind him. "Hello, Ashy-Boy." Now he knew who it was.  
"Duplica. I should have known it was you." He said as he turned round and recognized the familiar form of Duplica. Her blue hair, that used to sit in twin bobbles, was now in a single bobble at the back of her head. She had a slim figure similar to Misty's except she was a couple of inches taller. She strolled forward and clicked her fingers, the Pikachu leaped onto her shoulder and transformed into a small Ditto again.  
"Ditto!" it cried as it sat happily on her shoulder.  
"Long time no see Ashy-Boy!" Duplica teased again.  
"I've told you not to call me that." Ash said he was getting annoyed at her childhood taunts. Duplica laughed.  
"Come on, don't be such a spoiled sport." She said. As she was laughing as whispered something to Squirtle. Misty walked over to Ash.  
"What did you say to him?" she asked as she saw Squirtle creep up behind Duplica.  
"You'll see." He said quietly, "You'll see." He watched Duplica as she laughed, and then he seen Squirlte quietly sneak up behind her. He smiled to himself. Then Squirtle leaped as it called out, Duplica turned to find out what was happening and got a face full of water. Now it was Ash's turn to laugh, as Duplica coughed and spluttered. Squirtle jumped down and sat at Ash's feet, he opened his mouth wide and laughed with Ash.  
"Ditto…transform." Duplica ordered as she coughed.  
"Dits," it said as its body took the shape of Squirtle. It let out a blast of water from its mouth at Ash as soon as it was ready. But Ash had seen it coming and moved out of the way, so instead of hitting its original target, the water slammed right into Misty's stomach. Duplica instantly stopped laughing, and her mouth flew open in shock. Misty recovered from her shock and threw a Pokéball.  
"Staryu, go!" she called as a star shaped Pokémon came back into battle. "Soak her with your water gun!" she ordered it. It instantly obliged and before Duplica could explain that it was a mistake the Staryu soaked her from head to toe. Ash was still laughing at the both of them, so both trainers turned and yelled out to their Pokémon at the same time.  
"Soak him!" they called. Both Pokémon nodded and blasted Ash with water before he could realise what was going on. Some of the water went astray and got Gary, so he took out his water Pokémon and joined in the fight. The friends were soaked, but none of them minded, Misty was just happy that Ash and Gary weren't getting at each other. Even though they were the ones that were soaking each other the most. In a couple of minutes they all heard Brock coming. They instantly stopped and all ducked behind trees, and just as Brock rounded the corner, all of the Pokémon soaked him at the one time. He was dripping wet within seconds.  
"Ash, Misty." He called. "I was only trying to tell you your dinner is ready, what'd you do that for." He looked around and seen all of them come out from behind the trees.  
"Sorry Brock," Ash said. "We were just fooling around."  
"Yeh," Duplica said, "and it was me that started all of this anyway." Ditto transformed and came back to Duplica.  
"Hey Brock," Misty called out, "is there enough food to go round for Duplica to stay?"  
"Yeh, there should be." He said, "But if you're going to soak me again at the dinner table, could you please warn me?" he asked them as he tried to get most of the water out of his top by twisting it between his hands.  
"Gary," professor Oak called over the fence. "Gary you're di…why are you so wet?" he asked looking at everyone.  
"Doesn't matter." He said, "What did you want me for?"  
"You're dinners ready. But I don't think your mother will want you to come into the house like that."   
"Don't worry. I'll get in the way I always do." Gary said, and then he looked back at Ash.   
"Smell ya later." He said as he ran down the path.   
"I really don't like him." Ash said as he went over to the kitchen door to get a towel that Brock had left for them to dry off with.   
They all went inside and had their dinner, and Ash's mum offered that Duplica stay the night with the three friends. She said she had nowhere else to go and Misty was glad for the company of another female. So they got Ash and Brock to move the couch bed into the spare room and they set it up for the night.  
Later on they watch the television and got some more news about the Pokémon league, and then they all went to bed.  
  
  
  
Misty was in the same dream again, for the third night in a row. Except this time it felt so real. Then someone shook her and she realised this time she wasn't dreaming.  
"Misty, Misty! Are you awake?" Duplica's voice came through the darkness.  
"Yeh," Misty replied, "What happened to the lights?" she asked as she sat up and looked around into the darkness.  
"I don't know. They just went out all of a sudden. I was going to wake Ash and Brock, but I couldn't see where I was going. And I'm worried about Ditto, he's crawled off somewhere and when I called out for him, he didn't come back." She began to fear the worse.  
"It's ok, Duplica," Misty comforted, "We'll find him." She wasn't so sure herself, but she knew they had to. "But first of all we have to wake the others. Maybe it's just a power shortage, and Ash might know where the power box is."  
Misty picked up her pillow and flung it in the direction of Ash's bed. It hit him and he mumbled something and then flung it back at her.  
"Ash, wake up." She called.  
"Misty, Misty. What's wrong?" he jumped up and ran over in Misty's direction. He ran right into her bed, and pinned her legs down.  
"Ash, get off my legs. Ash!" he instantly got up.  
"Sorry, Misty." He looked around. "Why's it so dark?" he asked as he tried to figure out what was going on.  
"We don't know," Duplica said as she crawled onto the bed where the other two were sitting. "We were hoping it was a power cut and you knew where the power box is to turn the lights back on." Ash noticed she was crying slightly.  
"What's wrong Duplica? Have you hurt yourself?" he asked as he tried to see where she was.  
"No, I'm fine. But I don't know where Ditto is." She said as she buried her face in her hands. Ash called out for Pikachu, and the little yellow mouse came running over to him instantly.  
"Light up the room with your flash." He told him.   
"Pi pika chu." Pikachu said and then he let out a small noise as he emitted a light from his body. They went over and woke Brock.  
"No, leave me alone." Brock said still half asleep. "We'll have breakfast later, will you just go back to sleep." Ash shook Brock, but he clung even tighter to the edges of the sheets and he refused to get up. Ash signalled to the rest of the group and they each took a corner of the covers and they were able to pull it away from Brock. "What do you want?" he asked as he tried to snatch the covers away from them.  
"You, need to get up. We need to find the power box and Ditto." Ash told him. "Haven't you realised how dark it is?" Brock looked around. Then he reached over to the lamp and turned the switch. It clicked once, twice. And no light came from it.   
"I assumed the bulb had blown." He said quietly. But then he got out of bad, and pulled on his shoes. "Lets go." He said as he walked over to the door with the rest of the group.   
"Togi, togi, pri!!" Togepi cried out to get attention.  
"Togepi, stay here. We'll just be back." Misty said as she put Togepi underneath the covers. They all exited the room, leaving the small baby egg alone.   
"Togi!" she cried and then pulled the cover closer as if to hide from an invisible force in the room.  
  
  
  
"Well," Ash said, "it's not a power cut." Ash said as he shut the cupboard.   
"Well, what else could it be?" Duplica asked, as she looked around frantically for her Ditto. Then they heard a scream coming from up stairs. "My mom!" Ash called as he began to run up the stairs. Pikachu followed him, so the rest were left in the pitch darkness.  
"I'm going to look for a torch." Brock said as he hurried off. Misty and Duplica were left alone.  
"Oh-no." Misty said. "This is just like my dream, this can't be happening. It can't!" she screamed out loud. And then she realised she was not the only one screaming. She heard people in the street running and screaming. She looked around, and realised Duplica was gone.  
"Duplica, Duplica come back. Please." She called out to her friend. In the distance she heard Duplica calling out for Ditto.   
"Priiii!!!!" she heard her small egg Pokémon shouting out to her.   
"Togepi!" she cried. She turned to go and find her, when she saw them: the same red eyes that were in her dream. She screamed again and tried to run, but pain shot through her legs and up to her waist. She closed her eyes as the pain increased and spread through her body. Someone called her name, she looked around and saw a faint outline of a person but she couldn't tell who, consciousness was slipping away from her. Her head spun and she felt like she was going to throw up. She clutched her stomach curled up into a ball and prepared herself for the worst. The pain increased again, this time spreading into her mind. She cringed as the pain worsened pain, this was much more pain than she'd ever encountered, even worse than when she'd dreamt it. "Why…is…this…happening?" She managed to ask through the pain that increased with every second gone by. She didn't know the answer and she didn't know what was going to happen, but she knew it was going to be bad. She prepared herself, and then the pain got too unbearable she let out a scream and then a darkness much worse than before fell in front of her. Making her unable to see the outside world. Someone called her name again, but it was too late, she was so tired and she just gave into the feeling.   
Her breathing slowed and she lay still. The eyes slowing disappeared and everything went back to normal. The darkness remained but the lamps came on. People stopped screaming and suddenly everyone started talking, everyone but Misty. She lay where she was, silent and still.   
  
  
So what'd you think. think i should write a second part or what?  
it's up to you, if people like it i may well write a second part,  
if not then i don't know what i'll do.  
please, please, please, review and tell me what to do.  
  
look forward to hearing from you all.  
  
Cerasi  



	2. The Nightmares Continue

Disclaimer: i don't own Pokémon. also the character Crystal Ember belongs to Starkiller, i am just borrowing her. i'll give her back unharmed. (Well, maybe unharmed, heh, heh, heh).  
please read and review. hope you enjoy:  
  
  
Misty's Dream  
Part 2  
  
Ash opened his eyes, the light was back, and he could hear people talking. He saw his mother lying on the floor a couple of feet away from him. He slowly got up and crawled over to her on his hands and knees. He checked for a pulse and found one; she was going to be fine.   
He got up and sat with his back to the wall. He lowered his head and rested it on his knees. After a couple of minutes he realised he had left Misty, Brock and Duplica downstairs. He felt a small hand tug on his trouser leg. He lifted his head and saw Pikachu crouched beside him. Pikachu looked at him as he lifted his head, and then he leaped into his friend's arms. Ash caught him and Pikachu nuzzled into his masters front.  
"Hey Pikachu. What's wrong?" Ash said as he stroked Pikachu's head.  
"Pi Pikachu. Pi pi Pikachu. Pikapi ka chu ka." Pikachu said as tears formed in his eyes. Ash looked at Pikachu.  
"It's ok. I'm alright, see." Ash stood up. "If I wasn't alright would I be able to do this?" he asked before he put Pikachu down and done a handstand and walked across the room with his feet in the air. He got to the wall on the opposite side of the room and swung his legs down, so he was standing straight again. Pikachu ran over to him and grabbed his leg. He climbed up Ash's body and sat on his shoulder.  
"Pika!" he said happily. Ash looked around. He took a cover from the bed and put it over his mothers sleeping form. Then he turned towards the window. He opened the curtains and looked out.   
There were some people on the street wondering why they were there in the middle of the night. Ash laughed almost silently to himself. He closed the curtains and headed towards the door.   
"Well, lets go and check on th …" he was cut off abruptly at the shouts from downstairs.   
"Misty! God Misty, please! Please wake up!"" Ash heard Duplica calling out. He rushed to the top of the stairs and looked down. He felt like his breath had been stolen from him. Misty lay in an awkward position in the hallway. One of her hands clutching her head, as if she were in pain; but she did not move. The other arm was lying limp at the side of her. Her legs were almost bent in the completely opposite position from the rest of her body. Ash could see her face. It looked pale, drawn. He felt like he was going to be sick, he clutched his stomach and tried to move. A strange paralysis came over his legs. Although he willed them to move it was like his legs were not part of his body anymore. Pikachu looked at him as if to ask him what was wrong. He looked around for the enemy that was stopping his master from going down to see what was wrong with Misty. Pikachu knew well that Ash liked her. He had known it from the day he had seen them together. And whenever one of them was feeling down, or were injured, the other would come running. But Ash didn't move, and Pikachu knew something was wrong.  
"Pika, Pikachu." Pikachu urged him on. Ash just looked at the fallen form of Misty, tears starting to well up in his eyes. He looked down at the ground as one lone tear escaped. He knew more would follow. Duplica looked up at him,  
"Ash! Ash, please help me! I can't wake her up!" when Duplica saw he wasn't moving she tried again. "Ash, please!" she said. "I know it's an awful site, but you don't want her to get worse, do you?" she looked down to Misty and then back up to Ash, tears present in her eyes. "If you don't help me, I don't think I can do anything. Please?" she looked back down at Misty, her shoulders heaving with the sobs she let out. In a couple of seconds she felt someone's hand on her shoulder. She turned to see Ash standing over her.   
"What can I do?" he asked with a small smile on his face. But when he turned to look at Misty, the smile disappeared and his face was once again serious.  
"Thank you." Duplica said. And then she too turned her attention to Misty's limp, lifeless body.   
It took them a couple of minutes but they got Misty to the couch. They had to carry her and try not to hurt her even more. Suddenly Brock came running into the room.   
"Ash, you're ok?" He asked as he walked over to them. Then he saw Misty. "Oh my God." He said as his hand flew involuntarily to cover his mouth. "What happened to her?" Ash turned to look at him.  
"She's not breathing Brock, please help. She can't die. It's just not fair!" he shouted out. "It's not fair!" he broke down into tears, and Duplica tried to comfort him. Brock walked over to the couch where Misty lay, he felt her wrist and after a couple of seconds he shouted out.  
"She still has a pulse!" he called; Ash came running over to him. And tried to wipe the tears from his face.  
"Let me," he said as he moved Brock's hand out of the way. Sweet relief coursed through him when he felt the soft beat in her wrist. He leant over her until his head was inches away from her ear. He whispered softly. "Misty, please. If you can hear me please wake up. I…I need you here with me." Tears started to roll down his face as he realised that if she didn't wake up this would be the last words he would ever say to her, and she might not even be able to hear him. He dashed them away with the back of his left hand, while the other hand ran through her hair. He let his head rest on hers, and then he just mumbled anything that came into his brain. He kept repeating over and over how much he loved her.  
Brock came over a couple of seconds later to find Ash weeping.   
"Ash," he said quietly to his friend. "Ash, the doctor is here. Let him do his work." Brock pulled the weeping Ash away. He had to pry Ash's hand from Misty's as he was determined not to let go. But when he got him out of the room he seemed a little bit better. Brock sat him down with Duplica and then left to see if the doctor needed any help.  
"Ash?" Duplica said quietly after a couple of minutes of sitting in silence. Ash didn't lift his head. Nor did he speak, so she continued. "Ash. If Misty is gone she wouldn't want you to spend the rest of your life in misery. She wouldn't want you to remember this day, but to remember all the happier moments of her life. You know what I mean?" she put a hand to Ash's chin and forced him to look in her eyes. The tears were still present in his eyes. And Duplica suddenly realised how young he looked; he was still a child. He was only fifteen years old, if she felt bad about her friend, how did he feel?   
"I know," he sighed after a while, "I just can't help but feel useless." He stood up and threw his arms to his sides. "I mean, I could have stayed with her, but instead I ran to a scream that didn't even come from my mother." He buried his face in his hands.  
"The screaming wasn't your mother?" Duplica asked confused. This whole thing was too confusing.   
"No, she was fine. It wasn't until after the lights went back on until she fell. And now she's just lying asleep on the floor," he turned his look to the closed door across the hallway, where Misty lay, "while Misty is lying through there hardly alive." He seemed to crumble as he slowly slid down the wall to the floor. "I don't want any of them to die, but I can't help but think that if I didn't go to see if my mother was all right, then Misty would be fine now." He looked at Duplica, "Do you think I'm being selfish? Only wishing that my best friend is ok, even if my mother's life was at stake." He looked into the hall again. "I don't know what to do." He said helplessly. Duplica walked over and sat down beside him. Putting an arm round him for the comfort she knew he needed.  
"I don't think anyone is thinking straight just now. I know you love your mother, as she is the only family you have left. But, I know you love Misty with equal strength. It was a hard choice, but I think you made the right one." She said the last part carefully and slowly, as not to hurt Ash's feelings. Ash looked at her, confused,   
"But how could I have made the right choice if Misty might die? I don't know how I'll get over it. God, I don't know if I'll even be able to live with the guilt." He fell into Duplica's arms and cried once more.  
'This must be tearing him apart inside!' Duplica thought to herself, as she tried to calm him down. She could feel his body vibrating from the sobs that he let escape from his very soul. "Come on Ash. What did I tell you earlier? You have to hold on. She's not gone yet." Ash lifted his head up at the last statement.   
"What do you mean yet? She can't go! I won't let her!" He stood up hastily, and ran out of the room and soon out of the house.   
"Wait, Ash! Please come back!" Duplica yelled as she ran to the front door after Ash, but by the time she got there he was gone. "Where is he?" she thought out loud. She ran back into the house. She had to tell Brock.  
  
  
  
Ash ran through his back garden; he easily jumped the small wall that surrounded it, cutting it off from the neighbouring house. He ran through that garden as well. Soon he came to the end of the gardens and the start of the forest. He slowed a little, his legs growing weary from the exercise, but his heart still raged on. He couldn't believe what was happening. He didn't know why it was happening, but he was determined to find out.   
He walked now, slowly into the forest. As he took his first step into the darkness of the trees he heard someone behind him. He froze. Whoever it was they were gaining on him. Fast.  
  
  
  
Misty slowly walked through the empty space. Her footsteps echoing with every contact made with the ground. It was so quiet; she couldn't even here her own breathing. Then her heart began to beat faster. It pounded in her chest, and she knew something was wrong. An incredible pain suddenly erupted in her chest and mid section, as she realised she wasn't breathing. She clutched her stomach and opened her mouth. She tried desperately to get air in. But to all attempts no success was made.   
She fell to the ground, still gasping. She realised if she didn't get air soon she would die. Knowing this she was determined to breathe. She pictured her lungs increasing in size as they were filled with air, and then a few seconds later decreasing as the waste air was given out; and so the cycle would repeat.   
She willed herself to breathe, and soon she felt the relief of the sweet air being forced into her lungs. She closed her eyes, and to her surprise everything suddenly started to make a noise. She could hear people talking, the noise of the wind, and the small voice of her Pokémon. Everything was coming back to her. 'Thank God,' she thought, 'Thank God.'  
  
  
  
The doctor stood over Misty's cold body, as she suddenly took in a deep breath. Her heart started beating faster, and she sat up.   
"What? What is happening? Where am I? Ash? Brock? Duplica? Where are you guys?" Misty was talking nonsense; just saying whatever came into her mind. The doctor tried to calm her down, but he couldn't tell her where the others were, so it was no use.  
"Please child. You must rest. Your friends will be here in a minute." He pushed down on her shoulders, but she refused to stay down.   
"I want my friends now!" she screamed at the doctor. He stopped immediately.  
"I'll go and see if they're in the other room. Now, you have to promise me you will rest, ok?" he looked her straight in the eyes. And she, unwillingly, obliged. The doctor got up and left the room. The second he was gone, Misty got up. She walked over to the window and quietly undone the lock. She reached over to the footstool where her trainers lay, and retrieved her jacket from the door. Her slim figure slid quietly out of the window, and shivered in the rain, which was silently starting to fall. She ignored the coldness and pulled her jacket tighter around her. She did up the zipper until it was fastened up to her neck and then quickly shut the window.   
"If my friends won't come to me, i'll go to them." She said quietly as she walked of, stumbling slightly as she went. But she was determined to find Ash, Brock and Duplica, even if it took her all night.   
  
  
  
Duplica and Brock ran as fast and quietly as they could through the small streets of Pallet town. They had no idea where Ash was, but they had to find him. They also knew he was upset, and grief can make nice people do horrible things. Duplica shivered at the thought of Ash ever doing any harm to anyone. Brock looked over towards her. Ten minutes ago, she had come rushing into the house screaming at Brock about Ash running off. He had been standing with the doctor and watching over Misty, as her pulse dropped. He desperately wished that she would be ok. But, if he thought too much about he knew he would be distracted and then they would never find Ash, at least before it was too late. Brock quickened his pace, and urged Duplica to hurry as well.  
"Do you have any idea where he could be heading?" Brock shouted as they ran.  
"No," Duplica replied, shaking her head. The motion made her feel sick. "I don't really know Pallet town that well. I've only ever been here once before, and that was to come looking for you three. Someone gave me directions to Ash's house, and that's the only house I know in the whole of Pallet." She rounded a corner, and motioned for Brock to do the same. Once round, she was too late on seeing the dark figure of another person and she went flying right into them. The force of her speed sent them flying back into the newly forming mud. Brock came running over to help them.  
"Hey watch where you're going, losers!" Gary's voice came clear and sharp out of the darkness. He tried to get up but Duplica, who was still a bit confused by the collision, was lying on the bottom half of his legs. He tried to pull his legs from under her, but she was struggling to get up so it was useless. He kicked out with his feet and shoved her off into the mud again.   
"Hey!" she yelled before she got a mouth full of mud and water. She coughed and spat out the mud. Brock helped her up and offered her a handkerchief. She took it, gratefully, and started to clear some of the stuff off of her face. "What'd you do that for!?!" she yelled at Gary once he had stood up.  
"Me, you're the one who shoved me!" he started to walk off in the opposite direction. Brock took Duplica's elbow and tried to pull her away.  
"Come on," he said "let him win this one." Brock told her. But she shook away his hand. Duplica wasn't about to drop the subject.  
"That was an accident!" she screamed at him, but then a smile came over her face. "But you wouldn't know about accidents. After all you are the mighty Gary Oak, who never does anything wrong." She tutted and walked over to Brock. "No wonder you have no friends. Everyone around you is no match compared to you. Their all recognisable for humans!!" she called out the last word, and Gary and Brock both cringed. "Come on Brock," Duplica said after a couple of minute's silence, "let's go find Ash." She led him in the other direction from Gary, leaving him alone to think about her words. The rain got heavier all of a sudden and a thunderstorm began. The thunder rumbled and the lightning crashed. Duplica began to think that the night couldn't get any worse.  
  
  
  
Ash slipped behind a tree. He knew whoever was following him had stopped for a brief moment after they had stood on something. He waited for them to come out and show themselves…or themselves….   
"Damn twigs!!" a female voice sounded through the night air. He heard footsteps and knew they were coming in his direction. A dark figure walked slightly to the right of him and he launched himself at it. He knocked whoever it was off of their feet, and they tumbled down a slight hill that led to a small ditch. This time of year it would be filled with leaves, but now there would be a very small muddy puddle forming in the bottom of it. There was a slight splash and somebody grumbled something. Ash looked over at them and they looked back at him. He recognised her face. And suddenly regretted what he'd done. 'Now I'm going to get it!' he thought to himself.  
"Ash Ketchum, what the hell are you doing?!!" the female voice rang out as she pulled herself out of the ditch. Ash immediately went to help her.  
"S…sorry Crystal. I guess I was just a bit on edge." He said, as he tried not to laugh at her. But it was a funny sight. Crystal Ember stood brushing pieces of leaf and bark off of her wet jacket; her midnight blue eyes burned with anger and her auburn hair was a mess. Even though it was only shoulder length, it could still be messed up pretty bad! Ash looked her up and down. She still wore her familiar beaten up trainers, but instead of wearing her blue denim shorts she now wore blue denim pedal pushers. Her Pokéballs were strapped to her waist. However, Ash noticed that she was only carrying four. The first contained her ever faithful pokémon, Vulpix, the second held her very first pokémon (from Prof. Oak) Wartortle, whilst the third and fourth pokéballs held the strong Pidgeot, and the incredibly sweet Pichu!   
But even though she only had the four Pokéballs on her waist, Ash knew she probably carried the rest in her rugged brown shoulder pack.   
"Sorry doesn't cut it with me, Ketchum!" she snapped back at him, but then she lunged forward and hugged him. "God, I haven't seen you in ages." She said in a happier tone of voice. She pulled back and looked at him properly for the first time. "How've ya been? What'cha been up to?" she asked eagerly.  
"Nothing much," he replied, not sharing her enthusiasm. She looked around.  
"So, where's Misty?" she asked. Ash took in a deep breath.   
"Back at my house." He answered plainly. 'Well you're not lying.' His mind said to him. 'You're telling her half of the truth.' He didn't think he could talk about Misty just now.   
"Well let's go see her!" Crystal said in her same happy voice. Ash's heart skipped a beat.   
"Um, well, uh. You go and see her just now. I'm just, uh, running an, uh, errand, yeh and errand for my, mother, yeh that's it, I'm running an errand for my mother. I'll be back shortly." He stuttered Crystal didn't take in one word of what he had said. She knew better than to trust him when he stuttered like that.   
"Yeh right, Ketchum. Come on!" she said as she took a hold of his jacket sleeve and pulled him out of the forest. He knew he was going to regret going back to the house. But, he couldn't tell Crystal what had happened, could he?  
  
  
  
Misty trudged through the ankle deep mud. Her feet were freezing and her hair was soaked. She was constantly moving her hair out of her eyes, as the wind grew stronger. She shivered and tried to pull the jacket closer around her. It was starting to get lighter, Misty guessed it was about eight o' clock now. She had been walking for quite a while, and now she was growing hungry. Up in front of her she saw an apple tree. She knew she shouldn't really take one of the apples, but she was so hungry. She started to run and when she reached the tree she jumped up and grabbed a couple of the small apples. She kept on running until she got round the corner, once there she found somewhere to sit and she took a bite out of one of the apples. Sweet juice flowed into her mouth as she swallowed the piece of fruit. She slipped the other apple into her backpack and started to walk again.   
She saw what she was looking for up ahead, a small opening in the trees. When she had been here with Ash and Brock the first time they returned to Pallet, Ash had took them there. It had been his special spot for years; he had to be there. She picked up her pace slightly as she neared the entrance.   
"Ash?" she called out, no more than a whisper. "Ash, are you in here?" she approached and pushed away an overgrown piece of bush. She walked cautiously into the small area. Everyone who walked by would have regarded it as useless, but Misty knew that the small space led to somewhere else. She turned to check that no one was following her and then she went to the back of the area. She looked for the small handhold and once she found it she tugged at a small vine. The vine let loose and another small opening was visible. She crawled through and put everything back in place. She went down the small tunnel and came out into a large green area.   
It was kept dry thanks to the large amount of trees and the sheets of plastic and other materials that the trio had put up. There was a small stream running through and some trees with berries and fruits on them. She was amazed at the beauty of this place; even though it was horrible weather when she was here it was like she was in a greenhouse or something. She went and sat down in front of the stream and took off her jacket.   
She opened her backpack and took out the other apple. She ate it quickly and then went to look around for Ash. There were several cubbyholes and hiding places, but Ash had one he always picked, so she went to check that one first.   
She jumped over the small stream and walked over to the right. She went behind a tree and doubled back and came to a darkened area. She went into it and reached for a packet of matches, she found them and lit one. Off of that she lit a small lamp. She looked around, no Ash.  
She walked back out and looked over the stream to where her backpack had been sitting. It was gone. She desperately looked around her to look for footprints. No one had followed her, had they?   
It had to be Ash playing a trick on her. But no one had been in here when she came in. he must have got in when she was looking for him. She let out a sigh of relief when she saw someone holding her backpack.  
"Hey, Ash!" she called as she walked closer. "Don't do that to me…" she stopped. 'That isn't Ash!' her mind warned her. "Wh…who…are you?" she asked trying her best not to sound scared. The figure walked, 'no it isn't walking', her mind said as she realised that the figure was floating a couple of inches off of the ground. Misty backed up a couple of steps. "Get away from me!" she screamed at the shadowed figure. Then it came into the light and Misty saw their face. "You!" she said. And then she saw blackness again as something wrapped itself around her. She tried to scream but the invisible force wrapped around her mouth.   
She fell to the ground covered in…whatever it was she was covered in. she couldn't tell right now. But the only place that wasn't hidden by the substance was her nose.   
"Sleep now child." As the mysterious voice rang out it seemed to hypnotise her. "Everything shall be explained soon." Misty felt herself drifting off into a deep sleep. No matter how much she fought it, she could not stay awake.   
  
2 B cont'd.  
  
well that was part two as when i was writing it, the story kinda kept going, so i had to cut it off somewhere. so i thought that was a good place to leave it.  
tell me what you thought and i'll try and finish the rest of it as soon as possible.  
thanks for reading, and i apologise once again for the whole Ash killing Misty and himself thing. please forgive me.  
Cerasi 


	3. Will This Ever End?

Sorry 'bout the delay for this to finally come out but I had prelims and now i have Standard Grades coming up.  
I'll get the next chapter finished as quickly as possible. (hopefully this week.)  
Talking about chapters, this one's kinda long, so beware if you're not a fast reader.  
And if you have not read the other two parts then this would probably not make a lot of sense, so there's no point in skipping to this one and hoping to pick up what's going on.  
  
Right all that babbling over now. Here's another boring part;  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon, or the character Chrystal/Chrys, she belongs to Starkiller, i just borrowed her for this story.  
  
Right on with the fic...  
  
  
Misty's Dream  
Part Three  
  
  
"Thanks for letting me come along with you guys," Gary muttered sheepishly as he walked along trying to keep up with Brock and Duplica.  
"Why did we let him come along anyway?" Duplica asked Brock, in an angry tone of voice.  
"Because you made him cry, remember?" Brock said in just about the same tone of voice.  
"So!" Duplica argued. "That doesn't mean he had to come along." She said as she folded her arms. "I don't understand why we couldn't have just left him there." She put her hands over her ears to prevent her from hearing Gary's thanks. Gary walked over beside her and she quickly went to the other side of Brock. He looked at her as if asking why she had done that. "What?" she said innocently, "I'm not walking next to him." She continued to walk a small smile on her face.  
"Stop being so childish." Brock told her, but she ignored his words and continued down the road.   
Before long they had walked around most of Pallet and still they had not found any trace of Ash.   
"God! Where is he?" Duplica shouted at no one in particular.   
"Be patient!" Brock shouted at her, getting annoyed at her restlessness. "We won't find them unless you stop moaning."   
"How come?" She was arguing again. "My moaning doesn't hurt anyone."  
"Well actually it gives me a headache." Gary said from behind her.  
"And since when have I cared about what you do or think?" She yelled at him. He instantly looked at the ground and trudged along slowly and silently again.   
"Look," Brock said with his hand on his forehead, "let's just calm down and try to find Ash." He looked at the two of them as they both mumbled apologies. Then they all walked along in silence.   
  
  
  
Ash and Crystal had been walking for a couple of minutes when they saw three others walking in their direction. Ash instantly recognised them as his friends and ran up to them. He was taken aback when he realised Gary was walking beside them. He looked to Brock and Duplica for answers.  
"Don't bother asking." Duplica said in a dangerous voice as he approached.   
"Don't bother asking what?" Ash asked anyone.   
"Why Gary's with us." Brock answered for him.   
"So why is he here?" Ash asked him and then he looked around again. "Where's Misty?" he asked frantically.   
"It's ok. Misty's back at your house, and we came across Gary on the way here." Brock paused. "Wherever here is." He looked around and didn't recognise anything he saw. Suddenly he looked over and saw Crystal standing with Duplica.   
"Duh, heh, heh…hello. My name's Brock. Will you go out with me?" Crystal blinked in surprise, before backing away.  
"Ehh, Earth to Brock! It's me, Crystal!" She shouted. Brock fell to one knee and took hold of her hand.  
"And may I say your name describes your most beautiful crystal blue eyes. My one and only sweet lov, OWE!!" Brock rubbed the back of his head where Duplica had just punched him. He looked up with big innocent eyes.   
"What did I do?" He whined. Duplica glared at him.  
"Snap outta girl mode! We've gotta get back to Misty. If she's woken up, she'll want her friends." She ended in a softer tone, and looked purposely at Ash. Ash bowed his head to hide his blush.  
"You're right. Sorry I ran off you guys…I just couldn't …take it." He choked out.   
Now at this point, both Crystal and Gary were looking more than a little confused. The most either of them could gather was that something was wrong with Misty. But what?  
"That's it! I come home after what, three months, only to find one big ruddy mess! What the hec is goin' on round here?" Ash felt a little guilty as he heard Crystal's words. He should have told her.   
"Huh, maybe you shouldn't of come back." Gary snorted. Crystal glared at him.  
"If I'd known you'd be here, maybe I wouldn't hav--" Duplica suddenly cut off Crystal,   
"As I said before, Misty will need us now! So come on. We'll explain on the way." She finished, marching ahead of them. The group turned to each other, sighed and slowly followed on.  
  
  
  
Misty woke. She couldn't tell where she was, but she knew it wasn't somewhere friendly. She tried to sit up, but pain shot through her leg, she let her breath out in an involuntarily hiss. Her head hit the ground with a soft thud. It felt like a stone floor, cold and hard. She heard a noise in the distance; maybe someone was coming to get her. A friend she hoped.   
She looked around to see if she could identify the building she was in. She couldn't see anything but dark walls with red curtains dotted around the vast space.   
Footsteps.  
Someone was close. Impossible to tell how close, the emptiness made every sound echo. She tried desperately to get up and out of wherever she was. She wanted out, she wanted to be home. Most of all, she wanted her friends.  
  
  
  
"What do you mean she's not here!?!" Ash screamed in the doctor's face.   
"She's gone. I went to get you and when I got back she was gone. I checked the rest of the rooms, but she was nowhere in the house." The doctor stopped for a brief moment. "I thought maybe you had got her and took her…"  
"Took her where!?!" Duplica shouted, joining in the argument willingly.   
"Well I, I…I don't know." The doctor said worriedly.   
"Hey, calm down guys." Brock said as he stood between the doctor and held back Ash and Duplica. They both looked ready to jump at him and beat the answers out of him. Professor Oak entered the room and stood behind Mrs. Ketchum, Crystal, and Gary.   
"What's going on?" he asked anyone that would answer.  
"Misty's gone missing." Crystal told him.   
"One minute she was here, and the next she was gone." Gary told his grandfather, a small bit of sadness in his voice. The argument raged on until Mrs. Ketchum entered the room. She went over to stand by her son.  
"You had better stop arguing Mr." She warned her son.  
"But mom, he let Misty get out. After all she's had to cope with God knows what she'll do!" Ash was almost shouting at his mother, and everyone could see she was not happy with that.  
"Don't use that tone of voice with me Mr.!" She took Ash by the ear and pulled him out of the room. Duplica was about to continue on with the argument when Brock stepped further in front of her.  
"It doesn't really matter whose fault it was that Misty is gone. What matters now is that we find her and we find her fast." Once again Brock's words made everyone in the room stop and think. Duplica backed down, beaten by Brock's words.   
"You're right," she said in defeat, "it is better to find her than to argue about who lost her." The doctor wiped his brow in relief. Crystal stepped forward.  
"Well let's get going." She said, loud enough so that Ash could hear over his mother's lecture. "If we are going to search for her, we'd better start now." She walked out of the room and opened the front door. Everyone followed her and Ash tried to get past his mother.  
"Not you Ash Ketchum." She said as she took hold of his arm.  
"But mom…" he began.  
"No but's Mr. You owe an apology to the doctor, and you're not going anywhere until he receives your words." Ash cringed; he had to catch up with the others before they vanished like Misty. He quickly ran over to the doctor and said sorry. Then he turned to his mother and she nodded. With that he ran out of the house and down the street. He could still catch the rest of the group before they went far.  
  
  
  
"This is pointless!" Gary said as he sat down on a rock wall. He threw his arms down at his sides. "We are never going to find her, so let's just forget her." Duplica lunged forward at his words. Gary scrambled off the wall and stood behind the rest of the group.   
"You take that back!" Duplica screamed at him. "We will find her and we're not going to forget about her! Not ever!"   
"We just need to look a little bit longer!" Ash called out to everyone as he ran over to hold Duplica back. He got her tightly and pulled her arm behind her back. "This isn't helping us." He said in her right ear. "If we are going to find her, we need to act as a group. Ok?" Duplica tried to twist away, so Ash tightened his grip and pushed her arm further up her back. She let out a small noise of pain. "Ok?" Ash asked again.  
"Fine!" she said unwillingly. Ash let go and walked over to Gary. Duplica rubbed her arm where Ash had held it. Even though he was younger than her, he still had a tight grip. She looked around to see if she recognised where they were. All she could see were trees and grass. "Where are we?" she asked the group. No one really heard her over the talking of others. She walked over to Crystal. "Hey," she said.  
"Hey." She smiled. "So do you always let Ash boss you around?" she asked as she pointed to her arm.  
"No. If he gets on my nerves I can just call him Ashy-Boy. He really hates that."   
"Where'd he get that name?" Crystal laughed gently as she looked over at Ash, who was busy lecturing Gary.   
"I gave it to him when we were kids." Duplica seemed to go into a daydream. "It seems like ages ago now." She shook her head. "But just now we have to find Misty." She looked around and remembered why she went over to Crystal in the first place. "Do you have any idea where we are?" Crystal looked around and took in the scene.  
"I think I remember this place, but I can't think of where I've seen it." They both walked over to Ash and Gary, Crystal grabbed Ash's collar and pulled him away from Gary. "Ok Ketchum, where are we?" she asked, not bothering to apologise for almost flinging him into the wall that was next to them.  
Ash looked around. "My God. It can't be." He started walking around looking at… well nothing but in a way everything. "Brock, do you remember this place?" he asked as he walked past his life long friend.   
"Well, it does seem familiar." Brock said as he followed Ash over to the edge of the woods.   
"Ok," Duplica said to Crystal, "they've both completely lost it."   
"Yup." Crystal replied as she watched the two walk along the edge of the trees looking at every crack and space in the leaves. "Hey Clefairy's! Do you want to come back to this planet or what?" she shouted at them. They both turned but had a vacant look on their faces. They both raised their fingers to their mouths and motioned for her to be quiet, and then they went on searching again. "I give up." She said as she turned to Duplica and Gary.   
"So what do you want to do while the dreamers are searching for a mystic cavern?" Duplica asked in a joking tone.   
"We found it!" Ash and Brock called from behind the three. They casually walked over to see what the two of them had found, despite both Ash and Brock urging them to quicken their pace. When they got there Ash was half way into a small opening in the bushes.   
"Ash Ketchum, what are you doing!?!" Crystal asked, looking completely confused.  
"We might know where Misty is." Brock said excitedly. He then quickly followed Ash down the small gap. When they were all down Ash explained to them.  
"I found this place when I was a kid. I had got lost and it was starting to rain, so I found shelter in the trees. It wasn't very big, to start off with, and was pretty horrible. But I had found it, and it kept me dry."   
"Then, he went on his Pokémon journey and found me and Misty." Brock continued the story as Ash tried to open another area. "We came back to Pallet and Ash brought us here. It was in quite a mess, so Ash, Misty and I fixed it up and made it bigger."  
"When we finished it was like a hiding place and somewhere for us all to relax." Ash went on once he had found the small handhold he was looking for. "We made it water proof by putting up pieces of corrugated iron and other materials, then we cleaned it up. No one else knows about this area as we all promised to keep it a secret. We haven't been here in years." Ash went down a smaller tunnel and then a large area appeared in front of the group. They went in and started looking around for Misty. They spent about ten minutes and then they all met back in the middle of the area next to the small stream.   
"Anyone find anything?" Brock asked as he looked round the group. There was a series of 'no's' until Gary spoke up.  
"Well I did find this." He said as he held out a piece of a cloak and a Pokéball. Ash took them and studied them with Brock. The rest of the group didn't hear much of there conferring because they were talking so fast and so quietly. Finally they stood up.   
"Well this looks like one of Misty's Pokéballs, and this could be ripped off of someone's cloak, but we're not quite sure." Suddenly the Pokéball opened and a red light emitted from it. The light began to take shape and a small pink blob took shape.  
"Ditto!" it cried happily.  
"Ditto?" Duplica spoke up. "Since when did Misty have a di…" she took a sharp breath and ran towards the Pokémon. "Ditto!" she cried as she picked up the small blob and held it close to her. "Ditto. Where on Earth did you go?" she asked, tears almost falling from her eyes with joy.   
"Dits, Ditto, dit dit Ditto." It told her, Duplica nodded at every word. Gary leaned over to speak to Crystal.  
"What did it say?" he asked her.   
"I'm not quite sure. You'd need to ask her, she's its master." Ash bent down next to Duplica and Ditto. Duplica was frantically checking to see if Ditto had been hurt.  
"Duplica," Ash said, "why was Ditto here?" Duplica looked up suddenly puzzled.  
"What?" she said. "Oh yeah, sorry. I was just so worried when I couldn't find it I guess I forgot. It said it came here after following Misty. It took shape of one of the leaves and watched over her for a while, but there was someone else here."   
"Who?" Ash asked he looked at Brock. None of them had told anyone where this hidden place was, and it wasn't easy to find until Ash knew it was there. "Ask it." Duplica nodded and turned back to the small Pokémon on her lap.  
"Do you know who it was that was with Misty?" she asked it. It lay silent for a few moments as if thinking hard before answering. Then its face turned serious, and instead of the big smile and bright eyes it had a small frown and an upside down smile on its face.   
"Ditto." It sad sadly, then it began again. "Dit Ditto dit dit dits. Dits Ditto Ditto di di to Ditto." Duplica rubbed her head. "Ditto dits?" it asked quietly. Duplica picked it up.  
"No I'm not mad at you. It's not your fault." She held it close to comfort it.  
"Well, what did it say?" Ash asked impatiently.   
"It didn't recognise the person. But they spoke and it knew they were male. He wore a long dark cloak and black gloves and boats. His face was hidden by shadow. Ditto said that they snuck up behind Misty and then she fell. Ditto didn't know what to do, so it kept still. Misty fell asleep, either that or she was unconscious."  
"Dit Ditto dits." It said sadly as it looked in Ash's direction.  
"Ditto says its sorry it couldn't do anything to help her." Ash leaned over and patted Ditto's head.  
"It's alright Ditto. There was nothing you could do." Ditto smiled once again. Ash laughed slightly when he seen Ditto's happy little face. "Right, well we had better start looking for Misty somewhere else. We know someone has taken her, and we have a piece of his clothing. Gary, could you help us?" everyone gasped at the same time. Ash asking for Gary's help. Was this the real Ash?  
"Huh?" Gary said confused.  
"Well you do have an Arcanine." Ash told him.  
"It could follow the scent of the cloak and lead us to Misty." Crystal said. Then she realized Ash was asking Gary for help. "Wait a minute, are you the real Ash? You never get on with Gary. Why are you suddenly asking for his help now?" Ash blushed.  
"Ah, well, I…" Ash desperately searched for words. Brock leaned over and whispered something in Crystal's ear.   
"Ah. That's so sweet." She said. "Not caring how your enemies are as long as you find the one you…"   
"La la la la la!" Ash called out at the top of his lungs. "Let's go. Gary get out your Arcanine." He walked over to Brock and hit him on the back of the head.  
"Oww!" Brock cried as the sharp sound of it struck through the air. "What'd you do that for?"   
"Let's go." Was all he said, as he went over to the Arcanine that now stood in front of Gary he gave the material to him. "I hope your Arcanine is better trained than your Vaporeon." He said as Gary let the dog-like Pokémon sniff the ripped cloak.  
"Arcanine. Follow that scent." Gary ordered the firedog. It barked sharply to let Gary know that it understood. Then it started sniffing the ground. It followed the scent into a corner and then retraced its steps. It got into the middle of the room and then it barked excitedly before running off in another direction. It headed towards a tall wall of bushes and thorns.  
"I think your Arcanine's broken." Duplica said as the large red dog began scratching at the blur of green and brown.   
"What do you know?" he shouted at her. "You're about as big a loser as Ash!" Duplica began to walk forward but Ash and Brock grabbed one of her arms each and held her back. Suddenly the Arcanine let out a long howl. Gary turned back to his Pokémon. "What is it Arcanine? Did you find something?" he went over and bent down to see what was the matter. He felt around in the bushes and soon came across a small black stone. "What's this?" he said to himself. He tried to lift it, but the stone wouldn't budge. Crystal came over to look at it.   
"Have you ever tried to move it a different way?" she pushed Gary out of the way and fiddle with the stone. She spent a couple of minutes and then she pushed down on it. A small buzzing noise was heard and then a click. Suddenly the wall began to vibrate and then it slowly slid out of its place. Everyone stood back, and watched as it moved and revealed another path, long metal sheets filed along as a makeshift walkway.   
"Well," Crystal said, "it looks like we're not the only ones that know about this place." She began to walk slowly down the seemingly small path the others followed along. They were walking for about ten minutes until they finally came to a large door. Brock pulled on the handle.  
"Locked."  
"Great!" Duplica said as she slumped down on the floor. "All this way for a locked door. That was pointless." Ditto slowly made its way over to her feet.  
"Ditto." It said as it laid a small jelly like hand on her shin.   
"Hey, Duplica." Crystal called over to her. Duplica lifted her head out of her palms. "Couldn't you're Ditto transform into a key and open the door for us."   
"Yeah. I think it could." she said as she picked up the small amoeba body. "Do you think you could help us now Ditto?"   
"Dit dit Ditto!" it said as its body glowed. The light slowly changed shape and shrunk. When the light was gone a small key lay on the floor. Duplica picked it up and handed it to Brock. He put the small key into the lock and tried to turn it, but the key was the wrong shape.  
"It doesn't fit." He said to Duplica. "Get your Ditto to change shape until it does." Duplica nodded.  
"Ditto, transform." The Ditto changed shape again and moulded itself until it fit the lock. It hardened again and Brock turned the, now key shaped, Ditto. There was a small click and the door began to open. Brock quickly took the key out of the lock and handed it to Duplica, it quickly dissolved and formed into a Ditto again. The door swung right open and the group started through into the darkness that lay ahead.  
  
  
  
Misty lay in a corner. She had managed to drag herself across the floor. It wasn't rough stone, well not that rough. She had a few grazes on her knees and up her legs, nothing that wouldn't heal. But, still she couldn't feel one leg. Her arms were tired and her muscles ached. She tried to take in breath slowly and quietly, but she needed the air quicker than her lungs would allow.   
She heard the footsteps again. For a minute she had thought whoever it was had left, but they must have been tracking her. She tried to remember how all this had started. She remembered the dreams, and falling unconscious, then running away from Ash's house. Then where had she gone? She thought for a few seconds.  
The secret area.   
She had gone there to find Ash. But he wasn't there. Then someone had snuck up on her, a man. But he was no ordinary human. He had used a very powerful psychic attack on her.  
"Just like in my dreams." Misty said quietly as she realised the truth. "No." she was beginning to think that she could see the future in her dreams. After all, what she had seen in her dreams had almost all came true.   
"Yes," a low voice said from in front of her, "you have a very powerful gift." Gift? What gift? "You know what I'm talking about." The voice said, quietly and in some strange way, dangerously. "The ability to see things before they happen. Like the so-called power cut at Ash Ketchums house." Ash.  
"How do you know his name?" Misty demanded.  
"I know more than that." The tall man sneered.   
"And what of this gift?" Misty called out. "I don't want it. Why was I given it? Why?" Questions were burning on the tip of Misty's brain. She had to find out more about this so-called gift and this dark mysterious figure that had watched her ever so closely, just to kidnap her. "And why do you want me? What good can I possible do for you?" The tall man laughed. But, it was not a laugh of joy; it had a more mocking tone in it.  
"You'll soon see." He said. "You'll soon see." He raised his hand and bars seemed to rise out of the ground. Misty tried to run forward, but her leg was still numb. The bars were ten maybe fifteen feet high, and surrounded her.   
"Why are you keeping me prisoner? What have I done?" tears were about ready to fall from her eyes. She tried not to think of them. The man didn't answer; instead a large black cloak suddenly became visible around him, covering his entire body.   
"I have no time to answer your puny questions." He slowly began to walk off in the other direction and a large door appeared out of nowhere. "I need to go and banish some intruders. You might want to try and say goodbye to them in your own mind, I think you might know them." Ash's, Brock's, Crystal's, and Duplica's faces suddenly rose out of nowhere.   
"No!" Misty cried. "Please don't hurt them, please." But it was no use. The man was gone. Misty let the tears fall now, even if she hadn't let them she had no choice, they fell freely.   
She thought for a couple of seconds. 'What are you doing!?!' her mind voice demanded. 'Why aren't you trying to get out? He hasn't done anything yet. There still might be a way to stop him!' Misty looked up. The tears had stopped falling, but her eyes still glistened.   
"Yes, there is still time." She said. The words brought confidence to her. She closed her eyes, and focused on her leg. She imagined it healing, and seen herself walking and running again. A small sensation of pain rose in her leg, almost causing her to lose focus. 'No! Don't quit now! Think of your friends, they need your help!' she held back the urge to scream and thought of how good it was to walk. The pain increased, but Misty hardly felt anything. She knew her friends depended on her, and she knew she was going to help them no matter what.  
  
  
  
"Where are we going?" Gary moaned. He had tripped over various objects as they walked down the dark tunnel. "And doesn't any body have a light?" Crystal scowled. He had been moaning all day. She had forgotten how much she hated him.   
"Will you ever shut up?" She asked in an angry tone. Brock sighed, not another fight. That's all the group had done since they all met up. He put a hand to his forehead.  
"I'll shut up when we get out of here!" Gary snapped back at her.  
"Yeah right. All you've done is moan about something for the past hour. 'I stubbed my toe, I hurt my finger. Oh boohoo won't somebody help me before I fall over and die from the pain.' Why did you even bother to come along anyway?" Crystal walked around the group impersonating Gary as she did so. Gary was getting real mad. He hated it when people done impressions of him.  
"Oh well you're one to talk." He sneered at her. "Where were you when Misty disappeared?" he demanded.  
"How can you blame me for not being there, when you weren't there yourself!?!" they continued to fling insults at each other. Pikachu couldn't take it anymore, and began to work up electricity in his cheeks.   
"Pika!" he said quietly but in a very angry and dangerous tone. Duplica was walking next to the small mouse type Pokémon.  
"Eh, Ash?" she said carefully.  
"Not now Duplica." he said as he clutched at his ears to try and block out the argument between the other two.  
"Ash?" she repeated, more insistent. She looked at Pikachu. More electricity was sparking from his cheeks. "Ash? You might want to calm Pikachu down a bit."   
"Not now!" he said again.   
"Pika!" Pikachu said again.  
"ASH!" Duplica screamed at him.  
"WHAT?" he yelled just as loud as she had. She pointed at Pikachu before calling for Ditto.  
"Ditto transform." The small Ditto transformed into a shield that surrounded Duplica's body. Pikachu's eyes began to glow with all the electricity in its small body.   
"Pikachu?" Ash asked quietly before he took cover behind a rock, he pulled Brock back as he went to the ground.  
"PIKACHU!!!!!!" the small pokemon yelled as electricity sprung out of its cheeks, heading straight for Gary and Crystal. They had time to look at it coming before it hit them. Both of them fell down to the ground with the charge. A few seconds later the tunnel plunged into darkness once again.  
"That's enough light now." Gary mumbled, then his head fell to the ground. Crystal lay a couple of meters away shaking her head to try and clear it.   
"Wow Pikachu. You'd make a good car battery." She slowly stood up and held onto a rock in the wall for support. She looked over and seen Gary, her breath escaped her lungs in a quick gasp. "Will he be al…I mean at least he won't be able to annoy anyone now." She laughed quietly and then slowly went to the back of the small group. Brock took a Pokéball from his belt and threw it into the air.  
"Geodude! I choose you!" he called as the Pokéball turned and twisted through the fall. It hit the ground and a red light emitted from it, it changed into a large rock with two stony arms coming from either side of it. "Geodude, pick up Gary and bring him with us." He ordered it.  
"Geo." The Pokémon said before taking Gary in its strong arms and carrying him beside the group. For the longest time since the group had started down the tunnel there was silence. They continued into the tunnel and as they did it seemed to get darker, if that was possible. It got so dark that they couldn't even see there own hands in front of their faces.  
"Pikachu!" Ash called out to his Pokémon.  
"Pi?" it answered.  
"Use flash to light the way." Pikachu nodded and ran slightly in front of the group. It began to gather more electricity and then emitted a bright light. It took a few seconds for everyone eyes to get used to the light, but once their eyes had adjusted, they were fine. The group continued on their way.   
Ahead of them they could see a large building. Ash knew Misty was there. He didn't know how he knew but he did.   
"Come on. She's in there." He said as he pointed at the building. He began to run towards it but before he could get there a large dark shape appeared out of nowhere and knocked him backwards. He felt his breath leave him as he hit a boulder and he gasped for air. Brock, Duplica, Gary and Crystal ran over to help him. While Pikachu searched for what had hurt his master and friend.   
"Hey Ash!" Brock called as he knelt down beside him. "You ok man?" Brock helped Ash sit up as Ash began to breathe more easily. He coughed a few times.  
"Yeah." He said as he motioned with his hands. "Where's Pikachu?" he asked. "Find him." Duplica and Crystal nodded before running off in the direction that Pikachu's voice was coming from. Brock and Gary helped Ash to his feet and supported him as he walked. "WE need to catch up with them." Ash said weakly. "Pikachu and Misty are there." Ash closed his eyes for a few seconds. When he opened them it was dark again, Pikachu had long since gone. The three of them walked on blindly.  
  
  
  
Misty stood up. "It worked!" she called out happily. Then she rethought about what she had just done. "How did it work?" she asked herself. She had completely healed her leg, or at least healed it enough to get up. She tried walking, and it felt fine. 'Right!' she thought. "Now all I have to do is get out of these bars." She walked up to them and closed her eyes again. She saw the bars bending and twisting, then eventually breaking. She focused her energy on them and she felt them begin to heat up underneath her hands. She was tempted to pull her hands away, but forced them to get used to the heat. Then there was a loud snapping noise and Misty fell backwards. She opened her eyes and looked at the bits of bars in her hands. "I done it!" she called out. Her voice echoed around the room.  
"Misty?" a female voice called out. She knew that voice, she hadn't heard it in a while, but she knew it.  
"Crystal?" she called out happily as she looked around. "Crystal is that you?"   
"Pikachu!" Pikachu screamed as he let out an electrifying jolt of electricity, lighting up the room once more. Misty looked over and recognised two of her friends.   
"Hey." She called. "Over here!" they looked around and then ran over to the make shift cage.   
"How'd you get in there?" Duplica asked as she walked round inspecting it. She came to the bits that were missing. "Where'd the rest of it go?" she looked at Misty, and realised she was holding bits of the bars. "Wow! How'd you break it?"   
"Hey, too many questions at once." Misty said. "One, a weird man put me in this cage, two, the rest of it is in here, and three, I don't know how I broke it." She threw the pieces down and they hit the ground with a clang. "You need to get me out of here guys. Before he comes back." Misty looked around.  
"Before who comes back?" Crystal asked her, a bit confused.   
"That weird man. He wore just a long black cloak and had a low mysterious voice. He said something about me having a gift. Then he left. He was coming to get you. Oh my God, are Ash and Brock ok?" her voice was thick with concern.  
"Yeah, well Brock's fine. But Ash got knocked pretty bad." Crystal told her.  
"What? What hit him?" Misty was almost screaming.   
"Woah calm down. Lover boy's fine." Duplica joked from behind, as she used the small saw in her hands to cut through the bar.  
"What do you mean by that?" Misty demanded, then she looked at Duplica. "Where'd you get that from?" Misty asked. Duplica didn't need to answer, as a small voice came out of nowhere.  
"Ditto!" it said and then Duplica got back to work.   
"Shh. Ditto. If you ever want me to finish you have to keep still." The saw was silent as it cut through the bars. "Anyway, Brock and Gary will look after him. He'll be fine. They'll be here soon."   
"GARY!?!" Misty screamed. "What is Gary doing here?"   
"Oh, he tagged along when we were looking for Ash." Duplica told her. "Me and Brock met up with him, and I kinda made him uh cry a little." Misty laughed as quietly as she could.  
"You made Gary cry! How'd you manage that?" Misty could hardly control her laughter.  
"Oh, I just said some things, got him angry, made him sad and then left him alone. He caught up with us a few minutes later and begged to come along." The room plunged into darkness again.  
"Pikachu, use flash to light up the room." Misty commanded him, he nodded and then let out more electricity. The three of them could feel the force of it in the air, but Pikachu didn't notice. There was a small clanging noise as the Ditto/saw broke through the metal.  
"Ha, no metal can stop Ditto and me!" Duplica called out triumphantly. She put Ditto on the floor and it dissolved back into a small pink blob and bounced its way over to Pikachu. They started talking, but no one really paid any attention to them, they were too busy helping Misty out of the hole Duplica and Ditto had cut. They got Misty out and she brushed herself off.  
"Let's get out of here," she said as she began to walk in the direction Crystal and Duplica had come from. They got into the tunnel just as Gary and Brock were coming round the corner. "Where's Ash?" Misty asked as soon as she had seen them.  
"Right here," Ash's familiar voice called out from round the corner. He was limping slightly and he had a large purple bruise above his right temple. Misty ran forward and tried to help him.  
"Why aren't you guys helping him?" Crystal shouted at them.  
"He didn't want our help." Brock told her as he stepped back. Even though she was smaller than him, he knew she could still pack a powerful punch.  
"So. You still should have helped." She argued.  
"Well if he doesn't want help, who are we to give it to him?" Gary said, in his usual obnoxious tone. He shrugged and walked off. Crystal stalked after him; she stood in front of him and wouldn't let him past. "Will you move?" he said to her, trying to side step around her. She moved to block his path again.  
"Why are you always so self-centred?" she shouted at him. He shrugged once again and smiled slightly.  
"I dunno. Must be in my genes." Pichuu burst out of its Pokeball and ran over to him and pulled on the bottom of his jeans leg.  
"Pi?" it asked.  
"Not them jeans, 'genes' you stupid Pokémon." He laughed quietly and bent down to pat the small Pokémon on the head, Crystal glared at him.  
"Leave him alone!" she shouted at him, the small Pokémon smiled as Gary scratched behind its ear.   
"Ha," Gary snarled, "even your Pokémon don't want to be with you! See no body likes you!" Crystal started forward; she picked up her Pokémon and held it close to her.  
"Well…I…ah…" she tried to think of a good enough thing to shout at him.   
"Ha! You can't beat me! Na na na na na!" Gary taunted. The small Pichuu cried quietly and clutched its small head from all the shouting. Crystal kicked Gary's leg and went to walk off. He grabbed her arm and threw her out of the way. She gained her balance and handed Pichuu to Brock.   
"Watch over him please." She said as she put the rest of her Pokéballs down beside him. She took a deep breath and literally flung herself at Gary. She caught him off guard and he turned round just in time to meet her fist coming flying at his left shoulder. He didn't have time to bring out a Pokémon so he tried to move. Her fist hit him square on the top of his shoulder. He moved out of the way and threw a Pokéball into the air.  
"Pokéball, go!" he cried as a bright red light lit up the tunnel for a second. Misty watched from the sidelines. She sighed,  
"Will they ever stop fighting?" she asked no one. Brock came over to her and Ash with Crystal's Pokémon and Pokéballs.   
"Kinda reminds me of you two." He said as he sat down on a nearby rock. Misty looked at Ash. "You know always fighting but deep down a loving bond connects both of you to the other being."  
"What' d ya mean?" she demanded as she stood up. Ash let his breath out in a low hiss as Misty kicked his leg as she headed off towards Brock.  
"Whoa! Calm it Misty!" Brock tried to calm her down as she stormed over in his direction. Suddenly a large electric shock filled the room. Everybody stopped fighting and Ash turned to Pikachu.  
"Pi," it said innocently, it tilted its head in the direction of Pichuu.   
"Pichuu?" Crystal asked as she walked over to him.  
"Chu!" he said. "Pi, pi, pi Pichuu!" it jumped out of her arms and ran over to a Jolteon. It hissed loudly at the small Pokémon, and the spikes on its back crackled with electricity.  
"Wow, a Jolteon!" Gary said as he grabbed a pokeball. "Eevee attack!" he called out to the small Eevee he had brought out earlier. It nodded and ran in front of its trainer. The Jolteon and Eevee both growled quietly at each other. Then, both of them refused to fight and the Jolteon started to glow and shimmer. It grew smaller and soon was no more than just a small pink glob. "A Ditto?" Gary asked confused, then he remembered who else was travelling with them. "Duplica." He said quietly.  
"Hey, you finally guessed!" she jumped out from behind a rock. "Well, I would have expected Misty or Brock to guess as they are the smartest out of you lot, but, at least somebody worked it out." She sat on the rock and held out her arms, the small blobish Pokémon leaped into the air and landed safely in her arms.   
"Ditto dits!" it cried happily. It bounced over towards the rock, which Duplica sat on, it raised its small arms and Duplica picked it up. It sat happily on her knee and waited for her to move. She got up and walked over to Ash and Brock, her Ditto holding gently onto her shoulder.  
"So how's Ashy-Boy?" she asked Ash as she almost stood on his leg.  
"I'm fine," he answered quietly as he nursed his ankle where Misty had kicked him, "and don't call me Ashy-Boy!" Duplica laughed.  
"Aw come on, lighten up!" she walked over to Crystal and petted her Pichuu. "He's just so sweet!" she said as Pichuu tilted his head as Duplica scratched his neck. Crystal picked up the rest of her Pokéballs and clipped them onto her belt. Misty stood in the middle of the group.  
"Hey guys, let's get outta here!" she said as she looked around the large cave. "I don't like being this close to that…place…that weird guy has made." She shivered slightly and walked in the direction Ash, Brock and Gary had come from. The rest were soon to follow, they got further down the tunnel when a strong gust of wind blew. Crystal shivered,  
"What is that?" she asked as she held Pichuu closer as he began to shiver. "How can you get wind in such a closed off area?" She walked faster to keep up with the group.   
"I really don't like this." Duplica said as she walked up to the front of the group where Misty was jogging faster and faster with every step. "Woah. Misty calm down. We'll get out without that guy catching up with us." She stepped over a small rock that lay on the bumpy ground. "And when we do, he'll never be able to find us. I promise you." Duplica grabbed Misty's elbow and stopped her.   
"And how will we lose him?" Misty almost shouted at her. Duplica took a step back. "He managed to find me when I didn't even know I had this power. So how can I hide from him now?" Ash came half jogging, half limping up beside them.  
"What power?" he asked but they ignored him. he slowed down again as the pain in his ankle began to worsen. Brock took his arm and helped him along. "What power is she talking about Brock?" he asked, Brock shook his head.  
"I don't know, why don't you ask Crystal?" he suggested. "After all she went with Pikachu and Duplica to finds Misty." They slowed down and waited for Crystal to catch up with them.   
"Hey Crystal?" Ash called as she almost ran right past them, she slowed down slightly.   
"Yeah?" she asked as she tried to pick up the same pace as they were going at.  
"What is Misty talking about a 'power' she has?"   
"I don't know exactly what she means, but when we found her she was in a cage and she had pieces of the metal bars in her hands." Crystal fell back suddenly to avoid running into a large boulder that appeared out of nowhere to block their path. "Where'd that come from?" she shouted as she picked up her pace. She looked back at Ash and Brock, "Come on you guys, we need to get out of here!" she called to them.  
"I can't go any faster," Ash complained, "my ankle is really sore to walk on." Crystal turned round to see the rest of the group standing still.  
"What are we waiting for?" she yelled at them as she made her way to the front of the group. She was confronted by a large wall of boulders and rocks. "What?"   
"Onix go!" Brock called from behind the group, a familiar red and white Pokéball flew to the front of the group and opened in mid flight. Onix took the place of the red light in seconds. "Onix move these boulders!" Brock ordered the large Pokémon. It nodded slightly then let out a loud cry and head butted the wall. The rocks slowly began to shift, and soon there were holes in the wall. Ash limped forward and took a Pokéball from his waist.   
"Bulbasaur go!" he called out weakly, Misty turned and looked at him worriedly. He met her gaze and she blushed and turned back in the direction of the rock wall and Onix, who was desperately hitting it with all its might. Bulbasaur's small form sat infront of the large, powerful Onix and looked incredibly insignificant. Gary laughed a single noise.  
"How is that going to help us?" he asked. Crystal turned and glared at him. "It's tiny! And not to mention useless." Ash ignored his taunts, if he let them get to him, they may never get out. The thought of leaving Gary inside the cave crossed Ash's mind, but he dismissed it.   
"Bulbasaur, lift up and move the rocks with your vine whip!" he commanded the grass type Pokémon. It uttered a small 'bulba' before starting its chore. It picked up a couple of rocks at a time and threw them to the side. Soon there was only a few rocks left and Onix helped pick up the remains. The small group was on its way again.   
Misty climbed out into the small sanctuary she had built with Ash and Brock and ran straight past all the artificial sites they had made, and headed straight towards the exit. She climbed out but soon ran back in. She grabbed the door and threw it shut.  
"He's out there!" she said as quietly but as clearly as she could. "Quick, we need to find another exit!" she dashed to the back of the group, confusing Ash and Brock who were just coming out of the tunnel.   
"Where are you going now?" Brock asked moving out of her way.  
"He's here." She said as she ran frantically past him. "We need to get out of here!" she took a Pokéball from her belt and threw it in front of her. "Staryu go!" Misty ran to the Pokémon when it took shape, she stopped a few feet from it.  
"Psy." It muttered holding its head.  
"Not you Psyduck!" she called as she summoned the Pokémon back and threw another Pokéball, this time Staryu appeared and took up a battling position. "Staryu, use your water gun to wear away that wall there." She pointed and pulled another Pokéball from her waist. "Starmie, help it." Both of the star shaped Pokémon aimed their powerful attacks at the wall and soon it was reduced to mud.  
"My turn!" Gary called out as he threw his Pokéball to the ground. "Eevee tackle attack the plastic barricades."  
"Ee!" the Pokémon obliged and started to charge. Soon they were able to get through to the outside again, they hit the road and instantly started to run. They made it back to Ash's house and locked the doors, and closed all the windows. Ash hissed as Gary kicked his ankle on they way past him and he fell down onto the couch. Misty, Brock and Duplica rushed over. He told them to leave him alone and that he was fine but they refused. Crystal came back into the room with an ice pack from the freezer and placed it over Ash's ankle, he tried to pull away but Brock held his ankle still. Suddenly the lights flickered, went out and came back on a few seconds later.   
"He's close." Misty said as she looked out of the window, she seen the dark shadowy figure coming down the road. She turned back round and suddenly thought of something. "He only wants me, doesn't he?" Nobody answered so she sat down on the windowsill and waited for someone to notice her, out of the corner of her eye she could see the dark, almost glowing, figure slowly making its way down the paved street. A car suddenly pulled into a driveway and the shadow seemed to disappear in the light, but when the light was gone, the shadow was back. Crystal looked over at Misty, and decided she had better help her before she done anything stupid.   
'Like climbing out of that window.' Crystal thought to herself as she shook her head.   
"That would be something Misty… She looked over to the windowsill and seen the open window. "Has done!" she ran over to the window and stuck her head out, Misty was walking across the front garden towards the shadow, it looked like it was holding out a hand for her to take. Then the shadow gained a shape; it started to take the form of a human, then it seemed like it shrunk a couple of inches. Misty still walked towards it and Crystal decided this would be a good time to get her back. She threw a Pokéball into the air and the majestic Pideotto flew high into the sky. Both Misty and the shadow, now person in shape, looked up at it.   
"Pideo!" it called out in a shrill tone.  
"Pideotto, dive at Misty, pick her up and bring her back." Crystal commanded it. It immediately obeyed and dived at the two figures in the street. It got within three feet and suddenly fell to the ground, it twitched slightly then was still, Crystal's mouth lay open, she couldn't believe it, nothing had happened to it, what was wrong?   
"Pideotto?" she called out, nothing. She jumped out of the window and ran to it. "Pideotto!" she called its name as she ran, but she did not make it. A sharp pain suddenly rose in her stomach and she was paralysed with pain and fear. She was struggling as best she could, but it was too painful. She cried out in pain and was thrown back against the wall of the house.  
The others heard the sickening thud of her body against the cold, hard bricks and Brock, Duplica and Gary all ran to the window. The searched the garden and seen Misty taking hold of the dark shapes hand.  
"What's she doing?" Duplica asked, there was no response. Then the three of them saw Crystal's limp body.  
"Chrys!" Gary called out as he pushed his way past Brock and Duplica to get out of the window. As soon as his feet touched the ground he started to run and he was beside Crystal's form in seconds. He bent down and slid his arm underneath her shoulders and lifted her head. "Chrys, Chrys are you ok?" Brock and Duplica ran over to them and knelt down beside Gary. "I'll wake her," he said as he turned to face them. "You two go stop Misty." They all turned and looked to where Misty was standing a few seconds ago, she was gone. Their eyes searched the street and seen both figures walking down the sidewalk. Brock and Duplica nodded.  
"Right!" they said in unison as they got up and started to go across the garden.   
"Wait," Brock stuck out his arm in front of Duplica to stop her.  
"What?" she roughly shouted. "They're getting away!" Brock looked back towards Crystal and seen a Pideotto lying on the grass in front of them. "Brock, what is it!?!" she was about to push past his arm and continue going, but he started talking again.  
"Well, think about it…" he started.  
"We don't have time for a lecture!" Duplica shouted at him again.  
"Just listen!" he said in a firm tone. Duplica stopped trying to push past and stood still, but impatiently tapped her foot on the ground. "Crystal seen Misty and that shadow guy outside right. So she released her Pideotto to get him, we heard her commanding it to attack and retrieve Misty, right?" Duplica nodded. "The Pideotto's down and Crystal was flung against the wall, but no more commands were shouted for any more Pokémon."   
"So what happened to them?" Duplica asked, she looked around for tracks of any kind, but found none.   
"I don't know, but we had better be careful." He started to walk over to the small wall that signalled the end of the garden, he ducked down and crawled on his hands and knees till the end of that, then he climbed the fence into the next garden and followed the same procedure for that. Duplica followed along using his example and soon they were within a couple of metres of Misty.  
"What now?" Duplica whispered as they tried to keep close but not be seen or heard.  
"We had better not show ourselves, but we need to get through to Misty somehow." He sat still and thought about it for a few seconds, Duplica suddenly hit his back. "Ahh! What was that for?" he asked her rubbing his back where she had hit it.  
"I think I know what we can do." She pulled a Pokéball from her waist and rolled it onto the grass, a small pink blob came out.  
"Ditto." It said quietly as it yawned and rubbed its eye.  
"Sorry for waking you Ditto." Duplica said. "But I need you to help us. Can you remember exactly what Togepi looks like, every single marking?" she looked at the small blob as it thought for a second.  
"Ditto!" it said happily and nodded.  
"Good. Can you change into it then?" it nodded again and began to change. Brock leant over and whispered to Duplica as the Ditto changed silently.  
"So what's your plan?" he asked.   
"You'll see." She said, as usual she was keeping secrets from everyone. The, now Togepi, waddled over to Brock and Duplica and called out as quietly as it could.  
"Togi, togi pri!" it waved its small arms in the air.  
"Good, you look just like her." she patted it on the head. "Now, here's what you're gonna do…"   
Misty walked along beside the large shadowy man, looking in every direction, taking in everything, but taking in nothing. She stopped suddenly and whipped her head around; running across the grass was Togepi.  
"Togepi!" she screamed as she saw the large Vulpix chasing after it, throwing deadly flamethrower attacks at it, but, luckily, missing it by a few inches. The small egg Pokémon fell and rolled out of the way just in time to avoid a deadly fire blast assault.  
"Pri!" it cried out defenceless as it rolled down a small hill in the direction of Ash's house. Misty chased after it quickly, she fumbled for one of her Pokéballs, but found nothing on her waist; she thought back and remembered leaving them on the couch beside Ash. She ran faster as the Vulpix head butted the small egg, sending it flying into a fence. It got up quickly and ran underneath the fence and into a small hole in the tree that was situated in the garden. The Vulpix jumped over the fence and landed with a yelp as it twisted its ankle, but soon got up and ran over to the tree and stuck its paw inside, it tried to grasp the egg but after a few tries it gave up and limped away.  
Misty ran over to the tree and skidded to a halt. She bent down to look in the small hole, and she could see the outline of the egg. She reached a hand in and tried to pick her up.  
"Togepi. It's me, it's Misty. Please come out." She tried to get hold of the small Pokémon and was absorbed in getting it out that she never noticed the two figures that snuck up behind her. One suddenly pounced on her and the other grabbed her arms. "What!?! What's going on!?! Let me go!" she struggled and one of the figures started to laugh. "Wha…Duplica?" the female voice laughed even louder.  
"You look like a stranded Magikarp." She laughed some more. Brock struggling to keep hold of Misty himself while she was trying to get out of their grip and Duplica was, literally, rolling around with laughter.  
"Hey, Duplica, a little help here." Brock hit her on the head with one hand and she fell backwards.   
"Hey!" she rubbed the back of her head and instantly stopped laughing. "Ok. Ditto transform into a net!" she summoned on the Pokémon and Togepi came out of the hole.   
"Togepi!" Misty yelled.  
"Sorry Mist. Not this time." Duplica said as the egg suddenly began to glow and change shape. It changed into a Ditto and then into a large net that wrapped itself around Misty.   
"Let me go!" she screamed as Brock and Duplica held her firmly on the ground. Her arm flew out from her side and almost hit Duplica right in the face, Brock caught her arm at the last moment and took her other arm and held them both securely.  
"Quick!" he said. "Tie that rope round her and lets get outta here!" Duplica nodded and quickly tied Misty's hands and feet together. Then they carried her back to the house.   
  
Duplica threw open the front door to Ash's house and ran inside, Brock was a few seconds behind her, carrying Misty in his arms. He lay her down on the chair, as Chrys was on the couch, and checked she was ok. Ash limped over to where Misty was a picked up her hand; he brought it close to his face and kissed it gently.   
"Why did she run off?" he asked Brock. He shrugged his shoulders and Ash looked at Misty, she just lay there, breathing in and then exhaling. He thought her eyes opened, but he was just seeing things. The lights flickered again and Ash's eyes darted around the room.  
"He's not getting her!" he called out desperately. Hoping that the shadow would not find its way into his house, but it was too late, it was already here…  
  
  
Right. Sorry again about the lenght of the fic. But i couldn't decide where to cut it off and this is a good enough place as any.  
The next part should be the last, (unless I decide to write a sequel kind of thing) and you'll have to excuse me for not getting them all done quicker.  
Also for anyone who's interested in my Star Wars fics, I should hopefully have the next one finished soon, hopefully.  
Please be a responsible and kind reader and review my fic. Please.  
And until the next one, chow for now!  
Cerasi 


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